THE MIGHT OF THE LAW FINALLY COMES DOWN HARD ON REPEAT OFFENDER

After a decade of repeated arrests and very little jail time, the
hammer of the law finally came down on Demetrius Spearman, a homeless
junkie, petty thief, legendary car booster and poster child for
what's wrong with San Francisco's revolving-door legal system.

On Thursday, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Garrett Wong
sentenced the 38-year-old Spearman to three years in prison for an
auto burglary in the Western Addition last October - the harshest
sentence handed down in the city for such a car break-in in recent memory.

As we first reported a year ago, Spearman has been arrested for
thefts and drug-related crimes no fewer than 50 times since he showed
up on San Francisco's radar in 1996.

Despite the repeated arrests and convictions, however, Spearman had
spent almost no time behind bars.

But when he was caught breaking into a car in the Western Addition in
plain view of an undercover cop - just days after being released for
another auto break-in - the district attorney's office finally took a
hard line.

After a four-day trial and two hours of deliberations, a jury
convicted Spearman of second-degree auto burglary, receiving stolen
property and possession of burglary tools.

The D.A.'s office asked that he be sentenced to the maximum three
years in state prison.

The public defender, citing our earlier column on Spearman, suggested
in court that the sentence was unfair and the result of "selective
enforcement."

Deputy District Attorney Bill Murphy countered that enough was enough
- - and Wong agreed.

Spearman will get credit for the 224 days he spent in San Francisco
jail before and since his trial. Which means he'll be eligible for
parole from state prison in 14 months.

While Spearman's case may appear extreme, authorities say he fits the
profile of many of the city's car boosters: aging drug addicts who
smash windows and grab whatever they can, with little regard for
getting caught.

"You are talking about guys on the lower end of the criminal ladder.
Guys who can no longer do the hard street stuff," said Lt. Mike Biel,
who heads the police auto detail.

Of the 47 arrests police made in August for auto boosting, one
suspect had 23 priors, another had 22, one had 11, and three had 9.

One of the suspects had been arrested for auto boosting, then
released the next day, then arrested again 19 days later for another
break-in, then released the same day - and was caught busting into
another car two days later.

"They know the consequences," Biel said. "But that's how they make
their money."

Odd Couple:

The veteran San Francisco police officer who found himself on the hot
seat for writing a letter to The Chronicle criticizing the way Mayor
Gavin Newsom and the Police Department were handling the homeless
problem in Golden Gate Park has gotten himself some legal muscle -
the American Civil Liberties Union.

It's a rare day indeed when the ACLU and the cops team up, especially
in San Francisco. But when the Police Officers Association asked for
help defending Sgt. John Lewis of Park Station for supposedly
undermining the efficiency of the department, the ACLU's Mark
Schlosberg stepped right up.

"It's clearly a matter of free speech," attorney Schlosberg said.
"Employees have the right to express their opinions, and the public
has the right to hear them."

The idea of calling in the ever-liberal ACLU to face off against the
image-conscious Newsom administration was the brainchild of police
union exec Steve Johnson.

"You have to admit," said POA President Gary Delagnes, "it makes for
an interesting twist."